Comfort Others

[He] comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” – 2 Corinthians 1:4

God allows our afflictions but also comforts us in these afflictions so that He can use us as agents of comfort for others. It’s one thing to tell others what God can do, even when we have the Bible in hand. It’s a whole different ball game when we’ve been there ourselves and put our Bible knowledge to the test in our own experience.

God allows our troubles because He sees our opportunity coming. He knows someone else will need the benefit of our experience.

When trouble strikes, the first place that believers should receive comfort is from the family of God. The body of Christ includes people who have been right where we are now. Who can minister to someone struggling with cancer more than someone else who has been there and has seen God comfort them as they wrestled with their disease?

When people come into the family of God running on empty, God wants them to find fuel from other believers. God’s family has grace to share because they’ve received so much of it themselves.

If you can give thanks for God, who met you in your pain, then others ought to be able to give God thanks for you. He wants to use you to help them walk through their pain.